Thunderstone: episode guide

Episode 1.14

Noah has been forced to give in to Tao, who would have used the destructive Electronet on Dolly's puppies. Now a prisoner in the Keep, Noah discovers Ferris and retrieves his PH-Ts which Ferris has stolen. Noah escapes with Ferris' help only to find Arushka has been captured while trying to rescue the puppies. Noah tries to smash the Net which Tao is trying to lure Dolly into but he is zapped and thrown to the ground, unconscious.
The captive miners are galvanised into action and while the battle rages Sundance and Chip get Noah out, but Ferris is caught — and this time he'd better tell Tao where the Nomads hide!
Tao's army, spearheaded by the Beast, races towards the Nomads' cavern. Noah and the Nomads are trapped — Jett's Thunder-oil smoke machine will flush them from their network of tunnels. This time there is no escape!

Episode 1.15

Noah and the Nomads are forced from safety by the Thunderstone smoke that continues to billow out of the Cavern; they are surrounded by Protectors and trapped by the Electronets. If captured they will be unable to stop Tao so Noah, their only hope, must travel back to his time and return with technology to fight the Electronets.
Harnessing the power of the Electronets, he takes Geneva's hand and they white-out, arriving in the raging blizzards of Topside North Col where they succumb to the freezing conditions.
Tao surprises the Nomads by releasing them, explaining that with Noah gone they are no longer a threat. He has called a truce — but why?
Found by Dr. Pretorius and nursed back to health, Noah and Geneva are called before the Triumvirate for a preliminary hearing. There are a lot of questions that require answers and as there is no evidence to prove time-travel — the matter will need to be investigated in depth. Noah placed under house arrest and a frightened and confused Geneva is detained in the Discipline Centre.

Episode 1.16

Sundance, jumped by Sutch in the Deep Road as he seaches for Ferris, is thrown down the Devil's run. As he fights the rapids to stay alive, the Nomads search unsuccessfully for him. Ferris, now accepted as one of them, delivers a distressing message from the Shadowmaster that Noah and Geneva will not be returning to Haven so there will be no equipment. Their battle has been lost before it even began! Who is the Shadowmaster and how did he know Noah was back in North Col?
A disempowered Dr. Pretorius manages to have Geneva released into Noah's custody and convinces the other members of the Triumvirate that a demonstration of time-travel will settle the matter. Geneva prepares for her journey home but something goes wrong and she and Noah fail to white-out. The Triumvirate accuse him of lying and place him in detention along with Geneva.
Sundance is rescued by the peace loving Sandtribers who take him over the Mountains of the Mist and to his first breathtaking vision of the ocean. Meanwhile, the Shadowmaster is ordering Tao to speed up his efforts in locating the Thunderstone Motherlode, he must find it — it is the future of Haven!

Episode 1.17

Noah and Geneva stand trial before the Triumvirate and are found guilty. For Noah this could mean five years without any privileges and for Geneva, exile Topside where she must try and survive the Impact Winter. The Triumvirate sentences them to work detail until they reach their conclusions.
Arushka finds a groggy Sundance who was returning home from the Sandtribers when Sutch zapped him with an Electronet. She is outraged — there was a truce! Realising that he has been found out, a furious Tao seeks out Ferris and forces him to lie to the Nomads and tell them it was a mistake by a disobedient Protector.
Furious about the outcome of her brother's trial, Becky breaks Noah and Geneva out of the Discipline Centre and takes them to Dr. Pretorius who gives Noah a pair of PH-Ts. He can take Geneva home at last.

Episode 1.18

Dr. Pretorius leads Geneva and Noah through a Topside blizzard to his secret research lab. Armed with the PH-Ts and Dr. Pretorius' new Silverwing device, which will defeat Tao's Electronets, Noah is ready to take Geneva back to Haven.
Arriving, they stare in awe at their surroundings, it is the ocean and it is truly magnificent. Turning at the sound of a familiar voice they are stunned to discover that Becky has somehow managed to accidentally travel with them. After a rest, good food, and the company of the Sandtribers, the trio commence their journey home.
Coming across an Electronet, Noah makes a discovery that will have serious consequences — Tao has activated the nets but the Silverwing weapon is faulty and ineffective against them.
Arushka calls a meeting to determine Ferris's fate within the Nomads. It is decided he can join them if he can convince Tao that they do not believe he is installing any more Electronets and is abiding by their truce. Tao doesn't believe Ferris for one moment.
With Becky's help, repairs are made to the Silverwing and its test comes when the Nomads discover Tao has targeted the horses as his first victims. Noah and the Nomads can only hope that the Silverwing will work. Noah throws it, it flies through the air, passing through the nets and returns to land at his feet. The horse escape unharmed through the Electronets. It has worked! They are triumphant!

Episode 1.19

Tao sits in the Beast with his anger rising watching as one by one all of the Electronets are destroyed. The Silverwing has saved the animals. Noah, his sister Becky and the Nomads have won the battle but not the war.
The Shadowmaster arrives, interested only in results. Tao convinces him that using the maserguns he can get rid of the Nomads then nothing will stop them finding the Thunderstone motherlode.
In the cavern as the Nomads sleep, Chip sneaks out. It doesn't matter what Arushka says, he must go and help Sundance at the Mine. He teams up with him just as Tao is demonstrating the maserguns and panicking, tries to make a run for it before Sundance can stop him.
Meanwhile Noah, Becky and the Nomads begin their trek to the ocean, unaware that Chip has been captured by Tao.
With Chip his prisoner, Tao instructs Sundance that unless the others surrender, Chip will be history. In a race against time, Moshi carries Arushka and Noah back across Haven. They will have to give Tao what he wants. Themselves!

Episode 1.20

With Noah and Arushka safely imprisoned in the Beast, Tao roars off leaving Chip alone under the relentless sun of the Red Desert. On a rescue mission, Sundance and Becky find him, exhausted and thirsty but alive.
A smug Tao, with Noah his captive audience, tempts him with knowledge of his future; Noah is only 65 years in the future and he along with the survivors from North Col could still be alive somewhere. Tao produces a disk that he claims was found in the ruins of the old holodeck and contains a history of North Col. Noah agrees to watch it but only if Arushka is with him.
The end of North Col unfolds — his family's suffering because of his illegal time-travel, the horrors of the rat carried disease rabies sweeping through the panicked citizens. Is he responsible?
Noah believes he is the only one who can save his people — he must return. "But if I am the only survivor", asks Noah, "what happened to me?" Tao has one more piece of information… "you reappear", he says, "as the Shadowmaster!"

Episode 1.21

Tao offers Noah a share of the rabies vaccine and power to return to him to North Col. With Noah gone and the maserguns to rid Haven of the animals, Tao is now free to find more Thunderstone.
Noah and Becky return to North Col, but where is everyone? What is happening? Was Tao right? They find Dr. Pretorius who confirms Noah's fears, rats have been sighted in North Col. Producing the vials of vaccine given to him by Tao, Noah tells Dr. Pretorius everything. Until the vaccine can be tested Dr. Pretorius advises them they must hide, there's nothing he could do if the Triumvirate found them.
In Haven, Tao has the breakthrough he needs, a lead to a strong concentration of Thunderstone in the mountains. But the Sandtriber presence there must be eliminated. Marshalling his Protector forces, they move out in convoy. Nothing can stop him now!

Episode 1.22

The thought that he could be the monstrous Shadowmaster tortures Noah as he waits anxiously for the results of his father's tests on vaccine.
When Becky produces the disk she took from Tao detailing apocalyptic future events, Noah calls for an Open Forum in which the citizens of North Col can decide on this evidence for themselves. If he can convince them to listen, he may be able to save them.
Tao feels they are near the source of the Thunderstone — the motherlode! He will not be hindered by anyone or anything. As he prepares to fire on some horses, the Silverwing swoops through the air, disarms his masergun and returns to Sundance. The beautiful animals are safe. An enraged Tao orders his troops to move in. Faced with the Protectors' new weapons, the Nomads are surrounded.
Noah has failed and he and his family are placed under house arrest. With Becky's help he eludes the holocops escaping to Dr. Pretorius retreat only to be confronted by the Shadowmaster. This time the nightmare is real.

Episode 1.23

Noah cannot believe that he is, or that in the future he will become, the creature that stands before him. The Shadowmaster tells Noah that it is time he learnt the truth. They both white-out of North Col and arrive in Haven.
The Shadowmaster challenges Noah — was it right to bring the animals to Haven? They outnumber the humans and will continue to breed. Good, says Noah defending their rights and place in the laws of nature.
The Shadowmaster lauds the wonders of Thunderstone. Its power will bring the human race back to his former greatness! It cannot be wasted on animals. "If I am to become what you are", says Noah, "why can't I change the future and so change myself? What is happening to me? To the Nomads?" But the Shadowmaster sends him back to North Col, back to rats scurrying everywhere, panicking citizens who don't see, as does Noah and his family, that the rats are in fact an illusion — they are holograms. Into this pandemonium the Shadowmaster appears and laughing mirthlessly, removes his mask revealing himself… it is Dr. Pretorius, he is the Shadowmaster!

Episode 1.24

The Daniels family are blamed for the rabies virus and the North Col community will not listen as Noah tells them the rats weren't real but holograms. Matters worsen when it is discovered the vaccine held as evidence has been stolen. Simon's subsequent collapse causes everyone to panic… he has a virus!
Liz finds that the disk given to Noah by Tao is nothing but a series of sophisticated computer generation images. Who is responsible for this dangerous hoax?
Noah returns to Haven to collect more vaccine to save his father. But the Mine has been abandoned. Tao has moved everyone to the Mountains of the Moon in search of the Motherlode.
Noah makes his way across the Red Desert. He must save his friends and get the vaccine before it is too late! Inadvertently a Kestrel gives Tao the answer he has been searching for. Now the Shadowmaster and Tao stand, transfixed — before them is the secret of life, youth, and absolute power… it is the core of the Nemesis Comet… the pure Thunderstone Motherlode!

Episode 1.25

While the unsuspecting citizens of North Col are preparing for their journey to Haven, the Shadowmaster is assuring Tao that a labour force will arrive soon to help in the mining of the Thunderstone. Becky's suspicions are aroused when she sees Dr. Pretorius behaving strangely. As she explores a deserted North Col she discovers that Dr. Pretorius has the missing vaccine in his secret lab. Captured by the Shadowmaster she is forced to join the others in Haven.
Noah unmasks the Shadowmaster revealing him to be Dr. Pretorius. Noah is not the evil Shadowmaster. Forced by Dr. Pretorius to listen to his great vision of a new Haven, they arrive at Tao's base camp just as the recaptured Nomads are herded in.
An argument erupts between Tao and Pretorius and to prove his authority Dr. Pretorius exiles the Nomads… through time into the snowy blizzard of North Col.

Episode 1.26

In a Topside blizzard the bewildered Nomads make their way into North Col where Geneva guides them to the holodeck. Through a combination of deduction and good luck the Nomads propel themselves forward in time to Haven where their reappearance is monitored by Sutch.
Sutch, who is under instructions from Dr. Pretorius to take Noah and Becky to a place they can never return from, instead reunites them with the Nomads. He too will now join them in their battle to defeat the Protectors and Dr. Pretorius. Together they formulate a plan to destroy the Thunderstone.
Noah and the Nomads move on the unprotected Thunderstone motherlode. As Sutch and Sundance hijack the Beast and liberate the enslaved work force, Noah, Becky and the other Nomads spread salt out at the motherlode base. The showdown has begun!
Tao and Dr. Pretorius move to protect their Thunderstone, their future. Tao, now revealed to be a hologram himself has targeted Noah but Becky's quick thinking saves him. Tao flickers wildly and disappears! Dr. Pretorius, his life's work destroyed pleads with Noah who, raising a Masergun, ignites the salt and with it the motherlode. The war over, Noah throws down the Masergun. Behind him Dr. Pretorius is left engulfed by the flames.
Tranquillity in Haven, the Nomads and animals are free. Noah, his family and the citizens return to North Col — there must be a past so there will be a future. As Noah hangs up the PH-Ts he smiles with the memories he will hold on to. In Haven Arushka rides proudly on Moshi. Before her the landscape is filed with the animals of the world. They will live free once more.